Life-preserver



l J. G. HILL. Life .Preserv'ven Buoy and Boat.

Patented May I8 N. PETER8, PHOTO-LIHOGRAFHER. WASHINGON, [Jv C,

maar

UNITED lSTATES PATENTA OFFICE. l

JoSEPHe. HILL, on NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

LIFE-PRESERVEIR, BUOY, AND BOAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part pf Letters Patent No. 227,779, dated May 18, 1880.

Application filed December 5, 1879.

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, JOSEPH G. HILL, ofthe city of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,have invented new and useful Improvements in Life-Preservers, Buoys, and Boats, of which the following is a specification.

My said improvements relate more particularly to the construction of life-saving mattresses, buoys, beacons, &c., but comprehend all analogous structures.

rlhe said improvements consist in the combination, with shells of said structures, of a buoyant lillin g of lamp-black, to increase their buoyancy and to render them as well waterrepellent.

The invention made and the manner of making shall be hereinafter particularly described, and I shall specify in the claims that which I consider as my substantive invention.

The accompanying drawings, in which Fi gure 1 represents, in plan and section, a lifesaving mattress, Fig. 2 a view of a buoy, and

Fig. 3 a life-preserver, serve to illustrate tanbeing indescribable with reference to different circumstances, I can only say that it Should be toa mean density sufficient only to obtain the highest degree of buoyancy, for if compacted to a density beyond such mean the buoyant properties of the flllin g would be lost, and it would become highly ponderable.

I use the lamp-black because of its marked and superimponderability, and because of its incapacity to be assimilated with Water underv ordinary circumstances to form a solid. Should accident burst a hole in the'mattress or ycollision perforate a buoy, the impenetrable powder of lamp-black will act as a barrier to the inroads of water.

I use it also because it is the cheapest known' solid of the least specic gravity, and because it is an article of commerce requiring no preparation for use.

The lamp-black I use I prefer made from resinous substances, as giving theleast -speciiic gravity of ordinary productions. For the purpose stated it must be used under a certain condition of compactness to obtain the best floating results, for if used under too great a degree of density it fails of its proper function, for beyond a certain density its specific gravity increases and would correspondingly defeat the object aimed at, while if used without a due degree of com'pactness its bulk would materially depreciate its advantageous uses for the purpse stated. It is a material matter, therefore, that it be used with a degree of compactness that will giveit the greatest active buoyancy inthe least possible space with regard to the weight to be sustained.

In filling a form or .tructure care must be taken in obtaining the required density that the iilling must be gradual and under a gradual pressure; otherwise the material will be displaced on account of its extreme lightness.

As a repellent for water and moisture it is pre-eminently the best, s0 that if the shell or structure, or a compartment thereof within which it is contained, should be punctured or otherwise damaged, it not only precludes the entrance of water, but, by its compactness and antagonism to Water, it cannot enter.

In the application of lamp-black as a buoyant filling any of the known appliances or structures of different forms and sizes may be used.

For life boats I propose to improve the otative Security by filling the usual air-tanks or spaces sectionally by I illing the lamp-black in small sacks or bags, and thereby giving security against all iiotative loss in the event of casualty or damage to the boat or to any portion thereof.

In practice l have found that about one pound of lamp-black is equal to aboutthree pounds of cork, and that it will have a floating capacity about equal to six -pounds above Wa-l ter, While the use of lamp-black gives infinitely greater security than air, and its use asa o tative agent is better than any known metter.

That lam p-blzwk is old as a pecking` I admit; but as :t mere packingit would be functionless in myinvention; and I desire it to be distinctly understood that I um not claiming lmnp-blzwk7 but only my improvement in flotative bodies, to wit:

I claim- 1. A liotative structure rendered securely buoyant by means of one or more chambers filled with lamp-black, operiting as a, Waterrepellent, substantially as described.

In flotative bodies7 such as life-preservers and mattresses V:md the like, the combination of a painted 'canvas case or structure with :t water-repellent filling of lamp-black, substantially as und for the purpose set forth.

JOSEPH G. HILL.

Witnesses:

RUDOLPH G. BABE, F. W. KELLER. 

